I hate to burst your bubble, but technically the 2.4L turbo in the SRT-4 and PT Turbo have more horsepower per CID than the 2.2L Turbo III's. The 2.4L turbo's put more horsepower to the ground than what they are rated to have at the crank which puts their true rating at the crank in the 265-280 horsepower range.

 

You really think the Hp at the crank it that high? I have never actually driven one, but you are making me want to buy one. I was thinking about bringing my 98 up to 350 WHP to compete with my fathers 86 vette, now I might have to get the srt and throw a few cheap mods on and be done.

 

According to the average powertrain losses vs. horsepower at the wheels, yes. The SRT-4 puts more than what it's rated at (230) the crank to the ground (226-236). I've seen these numbers vary between 226-236 horsepower at the wheels on the '04's, so it could be slightly less than the factorys rating at the crank. The '03's were rated at 215 at the crank, yet were dynoed at 223 at the wheels. With them putting that much power out at the wheels, the math puts them at around 265-280 at the crank. This explains why the SRT-4 stays with the STi's and EVO's from a roll, because they cannot compete with their AWD launches. The SRT-4 has them beat top end and the STi's are rated at 300 horsepower while the EVO's are rated at 271 horsepower. The proof is right here, the SRT-4 has about the same power at the crank as them.

 

Tell it to Mopar, they set the ratings. The math is as follows.

224/2.2= 101.81 h.p. per liter

230/2.4= 95.83 h.p. per liter

SRT4 SPIRT R/T
curb weight 2900 3200
factory rated h.p. 230 224
engine disp 2.4 2.2
1/4 mile 13.9-w/ quaife 14.2 w/ open diff

Of course theres no replacement for displacement, and the 7500 h.p. thing if I remmember correctly isnt dynoable, as theres no dyno to read that high, its all based on math. That aside, I love all cars, but really enjoy running 11s and then driving home with the A/C and cruise on getting 30+mpg.

 

Mopar has a long history of underrating the hp on their cars. A prime example is the 426 hemi. People said it was 425 hp with a wink. That was at a lower rpm. Peak hp was actually in the 500 hp range. Likewise, the 275 hp 340 was over 300 hp. I think it was Popular Hot Rodding that dyno tested five or so new 360 cubic inch Magnum 380 crate engines. The 380 designation is the hp rating. They all made pulls in the 420 hp range. We're probably going to put the 405 cubic inch crate motor in our '70 Duster. It's rated at 435 hp. I'm guessing Mopar underrated this engine as well. We're expecting well over 450 hp from it. It's much better to underrate and have pleasantly surprised customers than to overrate and have angry customers like the Mustang Cobra thing a few years ago.

Looking at the track numbers SRT-4s are putting up, you gotta know they make much more power than advertised. Wouldn't an AWD version of the SRT-4 shake things up a bit?! There is more parasitic power train loss with AWD but the traction and handling gains would more than make up for it. Three of my kids have STIs and I can tell you that they respect SRT-4s as much, if not more, that EVOs. Of course, they grew up with a Mopar bias and actually own some Mopars themselves.

 

What's on paper and reality don't always match up. That's why we hold the races instead of just comparing spec sheets.

The numbers I've seen on a stock Spirit were more in line with the mid 14s. Curb weight numbers I've seen were 2863 lbs. At 14.5 seconds and 2863 lbs., a Spirit has approximately 185 whp. Even if you use the 14.2 second ET, there is only 195 whp. Using the same formula, an SRT-4 at 13.9 and 2970 lbs. has 219 whp.

What does that have to do with the price of eggs in China? The math is solid and entirely accurate.

We can at least agree on that. I remember several stories of Spirits and Shadows, stock and modified, humbling a lot of Mustangs and Camaros. There was a guy here in Utah that was running 14s in a Caravan with a turboed 2.2. It was a total sleeper and ruined the day of many a Honda owner. Should we call it a musclevan?

 

but underrating HP is a good thing...less insurance..and htose that dont kno r in for a big surprise

 

www.modernperformance.com has a good article backing up 71RR's claim on the SRT-4 HP ratings.....

 

I can tell you my R/T weights 3390 w/ driver according to NHRAs scale. Thats nothing power but a drivers seat.

Whats odd it a SRT4 is about 300 less lbs puts 30-40 more h.p. to the ground has a good LSD is a full second quicker to 60 than the Spirit R/Ts, yet in the 1/4 the Spirit R/Ts are within 3/10 or so.

So whats going on with a lighter more powerful car with a 1 second advantage by 60 that by 100-105 its lead just shrunk by more than 1/2? There are a number of R/Ts modified lightly to make 230-250 at the ground that run lower 13s. Im not bashing SRT4s at all, I rather enjoy them, but Im a R/T guy(old school).

 

The difference is as easy as the torque and gearing differences between the two. I know that the SRT-4 can at times break the tires loose in the best conditions in third gear when it's boost hits fully. The reason is the wheel/tire combo vs. power. The SRT-4 tires are nice and sticky, but they are far too narrow and suffer from massive amounts of wheelspin even with the limited slip. Those that have tamed their SRT-4's better have managed mid 13's stock. You can drop 8 tenths to a full second off of the SRT-4's time by simply putting slicks on it, that's how poorly the stock wheel/tire size is, the wheels are only 17X6 when they should at least be 17X7. The SRT-4 does every bit of it's 160 MPH speedometer and a little more, weather permitting.